Tonight's NBA draft should give fans plenty to mock

Cavaliers fans, would you prefer a big man from Kentucky who is recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee, or a center from Maryland who is in a walking boot because of a stress fracture in his left ankle?If the mock drafts are to be believed (I realize how ridiculous that sounds), the Cavs' choice at No. 1 Thursday night will be Nerlens Noel or Alex Len.In the roundup of 10 mocks below, Noel was the predicted pick for the Cavs six times. Len was the top selection in two of the mock drafts, and Kansas' Ben McLemore and Georgetown's Otto Porter each were the choices in one.Noel tore his ACL in February against Florida. The freshman averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocks in 31.9 minutes per game. He shot 59% from the field and 52.9% from the free-throw line.Len averaged 11.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 26.4 minutes. To be fair, the Terps didn't get him the ball enough — he averaged only 8.5 shots per game. Len made 53.4% of his field-goal attempts and 68.6% of his free throws.The Cavs would prefer to trade the pick, but they picked a bad year to do so, since the No. 1 overall selection hasn't had this low of a value since 2006.My hope is the Cavs take McLemore, a shooting guard who, unlike Dion Waiters, can actually shoot.

My belief is they will select Len, another outside-the-box candidate for Chris Grant.We'll find out Thursday night.Enjoy the draft — and have fun counting the number of times ESPN analyst Jay Bilas touts a player's wingspan.Without further delay, the mock drafts (just for fun, we added the writers' predictions for the Cavs at No. 19, too):

Chris Fedor, Cleveland.com: 1. Ben McLemore, SG, Kansas; 19. Lucas Noguiera, C, Brazil. Fedor on McLemore: The Cavs have done a really good job not revealing their true intentions with the top pick. However, there is one thing they have said all along. They will take the best player regardless of position. Despite some shaky workouts throughout the process, that's Ben McLemore.

Bob Finnan, The News-Herald: 1. Nerlens Noel, C, Kentucky; 19. Jamaal Franklin, SG, San Diego State. Finnan on Noel: The Cavaliers are banking on potential with this pick. Once he becomes healthy, they'll have an anchor for Coach Mike Brown's vaunted defense.

Chad Ford, ESPN: 1. Noel; 19. Reggie Bullock, SF, North Carolina. Ford on Noel: While I think Len and Anthony Bennett also are in play for the top pick, Noel appears to be a better fit with the criteria the Cavs are using this year and have used in the past for the lottery.

Jonathan Givony, Yahoo! Sports and DraftExpress.com: 1. Noel; 19. Bullock. Givony on Noel: The Cavs could bring him along slowly as he recovers from injury behind Anderson Varejao, and he could blossom into the off-the-ball, hustling, shot-blocking, rebounding, big-man role he's destined to play.

Anthony Gruppuso, USA Today: 1. Alex Len, C, Maryland; 19. Dennis Schroeder, PG, Germany. Gruppuso on Len: The Ukrainian big man has NBA size and length and is arguably the most polished offensive big man in the draft. He has tremendous potential and could be a contributor right away.

Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: 1. Noel; 19. Giannis Adetokunbo, SF, Greece. Howard-Cooper on Noel: The speculation about Alex Len charging to the top of the board is not going away. Some believe it to be a possibility. But many front offices still consider Noel the best prospect available, knee injury and all.

Michael Lee, The Washington Post: 1. Noel; 19. Adetokunbo. Lee on Noel: Concerns over Noel's left knee and durability have forced the Cavaliers to flirt with several options, including Maryland's Alex Len. Noel will be out until December but his potential as a dominant defender makes him hard to pass up.

Jason Lloyd, Akron Beacon Journal: 1. Len; 13. Sergey Karasev, SF, Russia (Lloyd has the Cavs trading the 19th pick to Dallas to move up and acquire Karasev). Lloyd on Len: Len's bigger frame and more polished game make him the choice over Noel.

Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated: 1. Noel; 19. Adetokunbo. Mannix on Noel: He's a 7-foot defensive menace who will solidify the middle, either at power forward or center, and fortify a defense that ranked last in opponents' field-goal percentage (47.6) in 2012-13.

Matt Moore, CBS Sports: 1. Otto Porter, SF, Georgetown; 19. Tony Mitchell, SF, North Texas. Moore on Porter: Moore's mock was just a list, which, considering the success of these things, is probably best.You can follow me on Twitter for sports information, analysis and more Jay Bilas catchphrases. (Too bad this draft doesn't seem to have a lot of upside.)

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